tonight,
I decided it
was time to be
the other guy.
some men
cannot
figure out women.
I too,
was one of those men.
and
in earlier times
I would take the same
strategy of defeat,
“nice guys finish last”
I’d say.
“someday they’ll all want me
and they won’t have me.”
but someday never
came.
and
i kept
watching the
bars close
and the women never
went home
alone.
so, when a Slovakian girl
with eyes
like a blue hawaiian
lost
on a subway in the
cool part
of new york
looked at me and
said,
“i want the american
experience”, I knew
it was time to change
tactics.
we went to
st. marks.
even if
she
didn’t dig the freak show
I knew we could
find weed. bob dylan
lived here I said.
cool.
bukowski
wrote right here, I said,
on this stoop.
cool.
I pointed at
the st. marks hotel.
“and that’s where
sid
killed
nancy.”
I knew something
about my facts was
wrong but I didn’t
stop.
she held the flask up
to her mouth.
I took it and
kissed her
before she could
say
cool.
later,
we said
goodnight
and I moved
down
7th avenue.
I looked up
and
saw the hotel chelsea.
EVERYTHING
I told that curious
slovakian had been a lie.
bob, bukowski, dog diced nancy
they’d all lived here
not st. marks.
and then
I smiled
because
she’d
never know the
difference and
I
got to kiss her
anyway.
tonight,
I decided it
was time to be
the other guy,
and
I won
___
Scott Laudati graduated from Ramapo College of New Jersey in 2011 with a degree in journalism. He has had several poems and essays published in various magazines in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom. His short story, "Water Street," was nominated for a 2012 Pushcart Prize.
